"I'm afraid even if we wanted to leave, we won't be able to do so anytime soon," Li Fan warned in a chilled tone.
Only then did Huangfu Song remember that once inside a Lost Domain, one could only depart by locating and passing through a specific egress. Otherwise, though an exit might appear close at hand, it remained worlds apart—separated by a single step, yet impossible to bridge for eternity.
Instantly, a bead of cold sweat rolled down his forehead.
"This..."
Dongfang Yao had a bit more courage. Patting Huangfu Song on the shoulder, he consoled, "Relax, Brother Huangfu. Strange as this place looks, it's full of dead people after all. There shouldn't be any real danger. If you're genuinely terrified, just hide behind me. I'll take the lead." He thumped his chest in reassurance.
Huangfu Song nodded repeatedly. "Then I leave it to you. But be careful. In this place..." He hesitated briefly before lowering his voice. "I don't sense a shred of death aura. These cultivators might still be alive."
At those words, Dongfang Yao's body shuddered violently.
"Brother Huangfu, it's fine if you don't pull your weight, but don't go spouting nonsense." Dongfang Yao's gaze swept across the countless ice coffins drifting atop the black ocean, his expression turning exceedingly grim.
"There is no need to scare ourselves. Since we are here, we might as well make the best of it. Let us ascertain the situation first." Compared to the two beside him, Li Fan—armed with the singular treasure of True Reversion and capable of fleeing at any moment—appeared far calmer. Stepping forward at this critical juncture, he calmly took charge.
The three stowed the Puxian True Boat, gathered in formation, and laid down defensive wards around themselves. Donning their prepared defensive talismans and treasures, they cautiously skimmed across the expanse above the sea.
The Heaven-Measuring Mirror flashed with azure light, gathering and recording data from every area they passed.
None of them dared draw close to the frozen cultivators floating on the surface, choosing instead to scrutinize them carefully from afar.
"Judging by their attire, they should all be cultivators from the ancient cultivation world. We cannot detect any aura, so it's impossible to gauge their cultivation levels."
"Strange. They don't seem alive, but compared to corpses, there seems to be a subtle difference."
"I wonder what they saw before being frozen in ice. The expressions on their faces are utterly hideous."
"And who did all this? To instantly freeze such an astronomical number of cultivators, their cultivation..."
The three exchanged continuous thoughts via divine sense, none of them acting rashly or attempting to shatter the ice coffins below.
Admittedly, the dharmic treasures, pills, and cultivation manuals carried by countless ancient cultivators looked extraordinarily tempting. Yet no one could guarantee that breaking an ice coffin wouldn't trigger some unknown calamity. Moreover, with the Qingxuan points earned from exploring the Lost Domain, simply returning alive would already be an enormous gain. With the splendid rewards of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals dangling before them, the ancient cultivators' possessions seemed far less alluring.
Within the Dead Black Sea, time itself felt frozen. There was no rising of the sun or sinking of the moon; the sky remained an unchanging, gloomy gray.
The link between the Heaven-Measuring Mirror and the Heavenly Profound Mirror seemed severed as well. The trio's rapidly climbing reward points were recorded solely within the ancient square mirror, unsynchronized with the core matrix. Huangfu Song and the others understood that if they failed to make it out alive, all those Qingxuan points would be nothing more than meaningless numbers that could never be redeemed. Yet if they could successfully escape after completing their exploration, even if they gained nothing further in future endeavors, what they earned here alone would suffice.
Thus, they proceeded with utmost vigilance.
By their reckoning, they flew for dozens of days, yet they still saw no end to this dark sea. Everywhere they looked, there were only frozen bodies.
Even Dongfang Yao realized something was amiss.
"Are we circling around the same spot?"
Huangfu Song nodded in agreement. "It seems so now. Although we appear to be flying in a straight line, our perception has clearly been warped by some power here. Otherwise, the corpses we've seen over these past days would add up to billions. Even if every cultivator of the ancient cultivation world were buried here, there might not be so many."
Li Fan remained silent.
Within his sea of consciousness, he aligned and reconstructed the images recorded by the Dao Transformation Stone. Blue light flickered as it operated at maximum capacity.
Before long, Li Fan discovered a chilling truth.
In reality, among all the frozen cultivators they had encountered so far, not a single one was a duplicate.
Or rather, even if he had overlooked a handful of identical faces, the vast majority of cultivators drifting across this Dead Black Sea were unequivocally distinct individuals.
*A total of 2,679,800,000 cultivators sleep here.*
*And that is only what I have seen so far.*
Li Fan could not help gazing into the distance, where dense clusters of dark ice coffins floated upon the waters, still stretching beyond the horizon.
*Just what...*
The bizarre nature of this Lost Domain far exceeded his imagination.
"Going on like this won't do. We must find an exit quickly," Huangfu Song said, suddenly coughing lightly.
Li Fan and Dongfang Yao both froze. Exchanging a glance, their expressions shifted.
"Huangfu, are you all right?" Dongfang Yao flew to Huangfu Song's side, grabbing his shoulder to inspect his physical condition.
After a moment, Dongfang Yao's expression grew profoundly solemn. "Strange, there's nothing abnormal. But what was that cough just now?"
Huangfu Song also realized something was wrong. Closing his eyes to inspect himself thoroughly, his face darkened. "I feel somewhat weaker... as if my life force is constantly draining away..."
He glanced down toward the Dead Black Sea beneath them. "This sea seems to be sapping our life force."
"So that's it. My constitution is sturdier than yours, so I'm fine for now." At this point, Dongfang Yao's voice abruptly trailed off.
He looked toward Li Fan. "Wait, Fellow Daoist Li Fan, how are you..."
Huangfu Song's eyes narrowed as well.
After all, it was under Li Fan's guidance that they had arrived at this bizarre Lost Domain. Huangfu Song knew of Dongfang Yao's unique constitution. Yet Li Fan, who possessed only Nascent Soul cultivation on the surface, appeared even more vigorous than Huangfu Song at the Soul Formation stage, holding out longer above this sea of dead silence.
Huangfu Song could not help feeling suspicious.
Li Fan naturally understood their thoughts. He smiled faintly and shook his head. "Brothers, there is no need for suspicion. Perhaps it is because my grotto-heaven domain is of the wood attribute, granting me more vigorous vitality. In circumstances like these, we must work as one; under no circumstances should we allow discord to arise between us. Brother Huangfu, take the Longevity Pill I gave you. It might have a miraculous effect."
Seeing Li Fan speak with such candor, Huangfu Song temporarily suppressed his doubts. He produced the jade bottle and swallowed the Longevity Pill; sure enough, his complexion improved noticeably.
"It truly works! My thanks, Brother Li!" Huangfu Song said with an embarrassed expression.
"No matter." Li Fan waved his hand, seemingly unbothered. "As for how to get out, do you have any ideas, Brother Huangfu?" he asked.
Chapter 696